Burke drivers Reynolds, Carswell collect Street Stock wins

Tri-County Speedway in Hudson hosted the Alliance 360 on June 6, with a packed grandstand, chamber-of-commerce weather, and hot on-track action making it a memorable evening of short track racing at the four-tenths mile banked asphalt oval.

Two-time NASCAR O’Reilly Series winner Jeremy Clements was among those on hand taking in the action.

“Tri-County is a track that should be on everyone’s bucket list,” Clements said. “Great location, great facilities, great action. Nothing beats a summer afternoon at the track.”

The Grand National Super Series bookended last Saturday’s action with dual 51-lap features, the 51 laps honoring the recently-passed Kyle Busch, who drove the No. 51 truck in NASCAR.

Season points leader Jacob Borst started from the pole and took the victory ahead of Chris Burns and Austin Harris.

In the Carolina Vintage 20-lap feature, Dee McCall beat pole sitter Jesse Martin to the checkered flag, and Sheldon Clay then won a caution-filled Outlaws series event ahead of David Messer.

The Renegades division was up next, and Klint Townsend took the early lead, driving away from the rest of the pack before being black-flagged halfway through the feature as his car began to smoke and was dripping fluids onto the track.

Seasoned veteran Gary Ledbetter then took over the top spot and easily beat Kyle Dubeau for the victory.

Diego Mendez-Torres from Mexico City, driving for Carroll’s Speed Shop, narrowly won the pole for the Late Model feature, with all 14 cars separated by less than a second in qualifying.

On the 10th lap, Coy Beard got into Wyatt Miller going into turn one, and the crash ended the night for both competitors.

Mendez-Torres and his No. 25 machine paced the field for the majority of the 75-lap feature, but a late-race caution allowed for an incredible finish.

On the restart — with just three laps remaining — Alex Meggs took the checkered flag after a door-to-door three-wide battle with Mendez-Torres and Arthur Gama, who took the runner-up spot in his first-ever oval race.

Connelly Springs driver Johnny Reynolds was the fastest qualifier in the Street Stock division but started fifth after the redraw. It didn’t take Reynolds long to take over the lead and drive away from the field, however, with Mike Hatton finishing a distant second.

In the Limited Late Model feature, Don Carlton worked his way from fourth to the lead in short order. Carlton pulled away from the two-way battle for second between Walter Jenkins IV and Owen Wilson. After several laps of door-to-door action, Wilson passed Jenkins and began to chase down the leader, but Carlton held him off to take the checkered flag.

After the race, Jenkins protested the top two finishers. Carlton refused to tear down his engine, and post-race tech found multiple infractions with Wilson’s engine, making Jenkins the winner.

The final race of the night saw Burns beat Harris and Jamie Mosley to win the second GNSS 51-lap feature.

Tri-County returns to action on June 20 following a one-week break.

‘Meathead Mania’ strikes again

Defending track champion and 2025 track driver of the year Brian “Meathead” Carswell made it two wins in a row at Harris Speedway on June 6.

He turned the fastest time in hot laps, started from the pole, and led every lap of the Street Stock feature.

“Days like today make all the late nights in the shop feel like they’re worth it,” the Valdese native said in victory lane. “We are going to take the car back to the shop, make it better, and go for three in a row next week.”

Morganton driver Damion Patton started fourth and finished ninth ahead of Rodney Lail of Valdese. Steven Woody of Morganton finished 14th.

HorsePower, HMS, Harris race today

Today (June 13), local racing fans have their pick of three local tracks to hit.

The three-eighths mile dirt oval at Harris Speedway will host the Charlie Blanton Memorial, with the Blue Ridge Outlaw late model series headlining the event.

The fast half-mile HorsePower Park dirt track races with a full lineup of weekly action, including the $600-to-win Thunder Bomber event.

And Hickory Motor Speedway returns from a rare weekend off the asphalt to host the NASCAR weekly series.